Mr. Dowsett: "I learnt it from my ward, Richard Carton." Devlin: "Did you disguise your handwriting?" Mr. Dowsett: "Yes; I wrote it in a feminine hand." Devlin: "What was your object in writing the letter?" Mr. Dowsett: "I was determined that Richard Carton should not marry Lizzie Melladew." Devlin: "Why?" Mr. Dowsett: "I had all along arranged that he should marry my daughter Letitia." Devlin: "How did you propose to break off the match between your ward and Lizzie Melladew?" Mr. Dowsett: "My plans were not entirely clear to myself. I intended to appeal to the young woman, and to invent some disreputable story to make her suspect that he was false to her. If that failed, then----" Devlin: "Proceed. Then?" Mr. Dowsett: "I was resolved to go any lengths, to do anything to prevent the marriage." Devlin: "Even murder." Mr. Dowsett: "I did not think of that--I would not think of it." Devlin: "But you did think of it. You could not banish that idea from your mind?" Mr. Dowsett: "I could not, though I tried. It crept in the whole of the day. I could not help seeing the scene. Night--the park--the young woman with the bunch of white daisies in her belt stained with blood." Devlin: "Those pictures were in your mind, and you could not banish them?" Mr. Dowsett: "I could not." Devlin: "There were other reasons for preventing the marriage than your wish that Richard Carton should marry your daughter?" Mr. Dowsett: "There were." Devlin: "What were they?" Mr. Dowsett: "If he married Lizzie Melladew, I should no longer enjoy the income I had received for so many years. I looked upon it as mine. I could not live without it. We should have been beggared--disgraced as well. I had forged my ward's name to bills, and if he married out of my family there would have been exposure, and I might have found myself in a felon's dock. If he married my daughter this would not occur. I was safe so long as I could keep my hold upon him." Devlin: "Did your wife and daughter know this?" Mr. Dowsett: "My daughter knew nothing of it. My wife suspected it." Devlin: "Did she know that you contemplated murder?" Mr. Dowsett: "She did not." Devlin: "Why did you give Richard Carton a sleeping draught on that night?" Mr. Dowsett: "In order that he might sleep soundly, and not discover that I left the house late." Devlin: "Were your wife and daughter asleep when you left your house?" Mr. Dowsett: "They were abed. I do not know whether they were asleep." Devlin: "You took a knife with you?" Mr. Dowsett: "I did." Devlin: "Where did you obtain it?" Mr. Dowsett: "It was a large clasp knife I had had for years. I found it in a private drawer." Devlin: "You went to the private drawer for the purpose of finding it?" Mr. Dowsett: "I did." Devlin: "Did any one see you leave the house?" Mr. Dowsett: "No one." Devlin: "Did you walk or ride to Victoria Park?" Mr. Dowsett: "I walked." Devlin: "To avoid suspicion?" Mr. Dowsett: "Yes."